“I spoke to Jovetic and told him he is off the market for numerous reasons. I hope he understood that,” commented Della Valle.

“He is so young and has such a long career ahead of him that it is important he stays in Florence for a while.

“Jovetic has to remain with us for at least another year and I hope many more. He is one of the few genuine European talents, so it’s only right that he stays.”

However, the Fiorentina patron hinted that Jovetic was perhaps not entirely happy with that explanation.

“Stevan seemed pretty relaxed. He has to understand that in life other opportunities will cross his path.

“You know how we operate as a club; just try speaking to Luca Toni and Adrian Mutu. You know we gave up on around €45m for those two. Now we are turning down the offer for Jovetic and so in total reach €70m.”

Toni and Mutu saw offers turned away on the promise they would be able to leave Fiorentina a year later.